A local toy shop owner cheated 50 customers out of a total of 495,000 patacas, and gambled away the money, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a special press conference on Saturday.
The Judiciary Police received separate reports from 50 locals – 49 males and a female – between December 15 and Thursday, saying that they had ordered toys from a toy shop near Luís de Camões Garden and paid the shop owner between 700 patacas and 257,300 patacas each for the orders, but failed to receive any goods or refunds after waiting for a long time, according to Chong.
PJ officers arrested the 29-year-old male suspect, surnamed Lao, in the northern district on Friday, Chong said, adding that under questioning, Lao admitted to committing the crimes.
According to Lao’s confession, he had not restocked his shop in recent months, but had kept receiving large deposits for orders from his customers, so that he could use the money for gambling, Chong said.
Lao also told the police that he continued to lease the shop, in order to gain customers’ trust. He insisted that he had gambled away all the money defrauded from the victims.
A PJ investigation confirmed that the toy shop opened in mid-2020, while Lao started committing the crime in May last year.
Lao was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Saturday, facing a fraud charge involving a considerable sum of money, Chong said.
The hooded local male toy shop owner suspected of cheating 50 customers is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a vehicle in Zape after Saturday’s special press conference.
– Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
